SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Employees of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation won't face a federal lawsuit over the death of a 37-year-old inmate who was stomped to death by his cellmate.
Judge John Mendez on Sept. 5 granted the motion to dismiss by six CDCR employees in a lawsuit alleging they were liable for the death of Kenneth Dale Sumner. Mendez's latest ruling comes four months after he dismissed the CDCR as a defendant and stipulates that he won't exercise jurisdiction over remaining state law claims.
Mendez wrote that the facts of the case actually show CDCR officer Hunter Duncan and colleagues actually responded in a timely manner to the attack by inmate Okalani Latu, who is now the lone remaining defendant.
"Plaintiffs fail to plead any facts regarding cell checks which would support a claim that Defendants acted with deliberate indifference," Mendez wrote.
"For example, they do not provide facts regarding when the cell checks were supposed to occur, who was responsible for executing them, and 'whether any Defendant knew of a substantial risk to [Sumner} if a cell check was not conducted and ignored that risk.'"
Duncan heard "loud knocking noises" from the cell and sounded an alarm when he saw blood. Other officers removed Latu, and Sumner was airlifted to a hospital where he was placed on life support until he died five days later.
The resulting lawsuit made claims against the CDCR and its employees, including excessive force - even though none of the officers were shown to have had a part in the beating.
The suit also alleged Sumner's family was never told the cause of his death and that the CDCR failed to monitor his safety. Prisoners were also prohibited from wearing or keeping boots, they said.
CDCR's motion to dismiss said it could only be sued if California waived its sovereign immunity, which it did not. Mendez agreed in a six-page decision in May.
Latu was serving a 38 years-to-life sentence for shooting a friend in the face.